Originally published on May 26, 2023.
These are the remarks I gave as part of my plenary lecture at this year’s Eighth Day Institute Symposium in Wichita, KS. You can learn more about EDI’s work and sign up to support them as a member by visiting their website.
The words “be not afraid,” come down to God’s people in the pages of Holy Scripture. The sheer ubiquity of the command suggests that there are many grounds in this world for fear.
We might fear some sudden onset of unlooked for calamity, and so the Proverbs tell us that when the wise lie down, they shall not be afraid while the Psalms tell us that the righteous will not fear evil tidings.
We might fear the loss of loved ones—and so Jesus tells the leader of the synagogue in Mark 5 to not fear, but only believe.
We might fear our enemies—and so God exhorts Joshua to not be afraid as he takes on Moses’s mantle and leads God’s people into the Promised Land.
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Jake Meador
Jake Meador is the editor-in-chief of Mere Orthodoxy. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Commonweal, First Things, Books & Culture, National Review, Comment, Books & Culture, and Christianity Today. He is a contributing editor with Plough and a contributing writer at the Dispatch. He lives in his hometown of Lincoln, NE with his wife and four children.
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